(a) whether the Government is aware that discharge of industrial waste into the rivers has become one of the major pollutants of the rivers;
(b) if so, whether the Government has identified such sources of pollutants; and
(c) the preventive action taken by the Government in this regard?
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI & SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EMPOWERMENT
(SHRI RATTAN LAL KATARIA)
(a) to (c) Pollution load in rivers has increased over the years due to rapid urbanization and industrialization. Rivers in the country are polluted mainly due to discharge of untreated and partially treated sewage from cities/towns and industrial effluents. Non-point sources of pollution like agricultural runoff, open defecation, runoff from solid waste dump sites, etc. also contribute to pollution of rivers. As per Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) report of September, 2018, 351 polluted river stretches have been identified on 323 rivers based on monitoring results in terms of Bio-chemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) levels, an indicator of organic pollution.
Cleaning and rejuvenation of rivers is a continuous process and Central Government is supplementing the efforts of the State Governments and Union Territories in addressing the challenges of pollution of rivers by providing financial and technical assistance through schemes like National River Conservation Plan (NRCP) and Namami Gange. The NRCP has so far covered polluted stretches of 34 rivers in 77 towns spread over 16 States in the country with a sanctioned cost of Rs.5870.54 crore and sewage treatment capacity of 2522.03 million litres per day (mld) has been created. Under Namami Gange, the rejuvenation of Ganga and its tributaries have been taken up. So far, a total 310 projects have been sanctioned at an estimated cost of Rs.28790.66 crore under Namami Gange. Of these, 116 projects have been completed and made operational. Out of 310 projects, 152 projects are in sewerage sector for creation of sewage treatment capacity of 4857 mld & sewerage network of 4972 kms.
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In addition, sewerage infrastructure is created under programs like Atal Mission For Rejuvenation & Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and Smart Cities Mission of Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs.
Besides, CPCB had issued directions on 21.04.2015 to the State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs)/Pollution Control Committees (PCCs) under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 asking them to issue directions to Local Authorities responsible for sewage management in their respective cities/towns and to submit time bound action plans for collection, transportation and treatment of sewage generated in urban area. CPCB also issued directions on 09.10.2015 to Local Authorities under Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 for sewage management in Class I Cities and Class II towns and asked them to ensure treated waste water is disposed in accordance with the stipulated standards.
Steps taken by the Government to stop discharge of effluents into rivers inter alia, include issuance of notification of specific discharge standards, revision of the criteria for categorization of industries and issuing directions to all State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs)/Pollution Control Committees (PCCs) to adopt the same, issuance of consent to establish/consent to operate by the SPCBs/PCCs, Yearly inspections of Grossly Polluting Industries (GPIs) by CPCB under Pollution Inventorisation Assessment Survey (PIAS) for compliance, verification through third party technical institutes, installation of Online Continuous Effluent Monitoring System (OCEMS) for assessment of effluent quality and compliance status. In addition, the industries are encouraged to reduce their waste water generation by technological advancement, reuse/recycle of wastewater and maintain Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) where ever possible.
Further, CPCB, SPCBs and PCCs monitor industries with respect to effluent discharge standards and take action for non-compliance under provisions of Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974.
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